Share this Page

Shrewsbury v Macclesfield preview

Graham Turner is likely to freshen up his Shrewsbury side for the home fixture.

The Town boss was left unable to explain his side’s “awful” showing last weekend as they lost their eight-match unbeaten record with a 1-0 defeat at Aldershot.

And Turner has plenty of options from which to change things around, with midfielders James Wallace, Aaron Wildig, Sean McAllister and Jon Taylor as well as strikers James Collins and Tom Bradshaw all pushing for inclusion.

Jermaine Grandison is nearing his return from a torn hamstring but is unlikely to be available this weekend.

Fellow defender Reuben Hazell, missing since September due to a knee injury, has been cleared to step up his rehabilitation although it is expected he will not be ready to make his comeback until around early February.

Midfielder Ross Draper is back in contention for Macclesfield’s trip to Shrewsbury.

Draper served the final game of a three-match suspension as the Silkmen overcame Chelmsford City in midweek to book an FA Cup third-round clash with Bolton.

Elliot Hewitt has stepped up his rehabilitation from a groin injury in training this week and will be assessed before the Saturday’s match.

Adam Roberts recently underwent an operation to have a piece of floating bone removed from his foot and boss Gary Simpson is asking some of his squad to play through the pain barrier as Lewis Chalmers (stomach), John Grant (calf), Greg Daniel (knee), Ben Tomlinson (ankle) and Scott Kay (thigh) remain sidelined.

“There’s one or two stomach strains that obviously could turn into hernias,” he said. “I don’t want to tell you who they are at the minute, but we might have to manage that through the second half of the season.

“It might get so bad that one or two of them have to head in for an op.”

Share this Page

Related Articles

Comments

Share this Page

Shrewsbury v Macclesfield preview

Shrewsbury manager Graham Turner will hold a roll call on Saturday morning to discover how many of his players are available with an infection sweeping through his camp.

As many as nine members of Town’s squad have been struck down with the bug and Turner will assess each of them as late as possible to see if they can play any part against the Silkmen.

Striker Matt Harrold was forced to pull out in the warm-up prior to Tuesday’s impressive 3-1 win at promotion rivals Rotherham, with winger Jon Taylor and centre-back Ian Sharps playing despite feeling under the weather.

Harrold and Taylor are expected to be okay despite missing part of training this week, although Turner is concerned about how much the illness will have taken out of his players.

Full-back Jermaine Grandison returns into contention having completed a three-match ban while winger Lionel Ainsworth pushed his claims for a starting berth with a stunning strike for Town’s reserves on Wednesday.

Macclesfield boss Gary Simpson will again be without Paul Bolland and Paul Morgan.

Midfielder Bolland is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and skipper Morgan is out for the season with a broken arm.

The Silkmen have no other injury or suspension concerns as they bid to bid bounce back from Wednesday’s agonising 3-2 defeat at Burton.

Macclesfield appeared to be heading for victory after Emile Sinclair’s 81st-minute header had put them 2-1 in front.

But Adam Bolder nodded home a dramatic leveller with just four minutes remaining before Sam Winnall then converted an 89th-minute penalty to condemn Macclesfield to defeat.

Simpson said: “We seem to lack that mental strength and toughness to see the job through.”